A LOOK BACK at 2008

Looking back at the 2008 Sprint Cup season, it's not hard to see a dominant theme, particularly when you look at the victory totals posted by Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. Those three drivers accounted for two-thirds of the wins this season, a pretty impressive statistic.
But it pales when compared to the 1974 season, when Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and David Pearson won all but three of the 30 races, or an astounding 90 percent. It's the only other time in NASCAR's modern era that three drivers have won seven or more races in the same season.
There are some interesting parallels between the two. Both seasons were run during an oil crisis which saw prices at the pump skyrocket. In 1974, NASCAR took the unusual step of shortening the length of many of its races -- including the Daytona 500 -- by 10 percent in an effort to avoid a possible shutdown by federal energy officials.
In addition, each of the three contenders were the flagship teams for their respective manufacturers. In 2008, Johnson (Chevrolet), Edwards (Ford) and Busch (Toyota) carried those banners. Three decades ago, it was Petty's Dodge going door-to-door with Yarborough's Chevrolet and Pearson's Mercury.
How dominant were Petty, Yarborough and Pearson in 1974? They accounted for a total of 7,797 laps led -- or 74 percent of the entire season total. They were the only three drivers to accumulate 15 or more lead-lap finishes, and along with Bobby Allison (who won two of the other three races in 1974), the only drivers to score at least 15 top-fives. Dave Marcis was the only non-winner to record at least 15 top-10s and he did it without finishing on the lead lap in any race that year.
And consider, too, that Pearson only ran a limited schedule, as the Wood Brothers chose to cherry-pick 19 of the 30 races that year.
That's not to say the racing wasn't exciting in 1974. There were 59 lead changes in the Daytona 500, 53 in the Winston 500 at Talladega, 50 at Michigan and 48 in the Firecracker 400. But most of those passes seemed to be between the three major players in the championship.
The season-opener at Riverside was a preview of what was to come, as Yarborough beat Petty, with Pearson the only other car on the lead lap. Petty returned the favor at Daytona, with Yarborough running second. Bobby Allison spoiled the party at Richmond, leaving Petty to battle Yarborough for second.
Petty and Yarborough then swapped wins, with Petty rolling at Rockingham and Yarborough dominating Bristol. Yarborough drove away from Pearson at Atlanta, but Pearson scored his first win of the season two weeks later at Darlington.
Petty and Yarborough continued their 1-2 finishes, with Petty claiming victory at North Wilkesboro and Yarborough doing the same at Martinsville. As the circuit headed for Talladega, Pearson returned and Parsons wipassed Benny th 16 laps to go to win, with Petty third.
The three alternated visits to Victory Lane for much of the early portion of the summer. Petty won at Nashville, Yarborough at Dover and Pearson at Charlotte, followed by Yarborough at Riverside, Petty at Michigan and Pearson at Daytona. Then Yarborough won back-to-back races at Bristol and Nashville, followed by Petty's three in a row, starting at Atlanta.
Pearson broke that streak at Michigan, Yarborough took the Southern 500 at Darlington and Petty scored wins at Richmond and Dover. After Yarborough's win at North Wilkesboro, those three had won an amazing 25 of the 26 races to that point.

Then convention was turned on its head at Martinsville at the end of September as none of the three drivers who had dominated all season wound up in the top 10. Pearson's team took the week off. Petty won the pole but the engine in his car expired just 22 laps into the race. Yarborough then built a commanding lead, only to have engine problems of his own with less than 80 laps remaining. That handed the lead to Canadian Earl Ross, who led the final 79 laps, Gordon dominated with 13 wins, but Martin added seven and Dale Jarrett three, for a 69.7 percent winning percentage.
The only time that three drivers have won 10 or more races in one season was in 1969, when Pearson captured the championship with 11 victories, edging Petty's 10. But Bobby Isaac won 17beating Buddy Baker by more than a lap en route to the only Cup victory of his career.
Pearson won the next two events before Allison captured the season-finale at Ontario in an AMC Matador, with Pearson second and Yarborough third, not surprisingly.
As far as percentages of races won by three drivers, 1993 and 1998 deserve special mention. In '93, Rusty Wallace won 10 times to Dale Earnhardt's six, with Mark Martin adding five more victories. Combined, they won 21 of the 30 races that season, or 70 percent. In '98, Jeff times that season and finished sixth in the standings. But it was a 54-race schedule over 13 months, starting the previous November and ending less than three weeks before Christmas.